1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to apparatus for sensing coded information and for displaying such information in alphanumeric form. More particularly, the invention relates to camera apparatus for sensing film cartridge indicia representing a variety of information about the film in the cartridge and for selectively displaying any of such information.
2. Description Relative to the Prior Art
A camera user may need to be reminded of the characteristics of the film being used. Perhaps the camera has been stored for some time and the user cannot recall, for example, film speed, or whether the film is color or black and white, etc.
It is well known in the photographic art to provide coding on film cassettes, magazines and cartridges to represent any of several possible pieces of information. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,795, discloses eight tactile discontinuities on the body of a film cartridge, that are capable of providing 256 pieces of information. The coded information is intended to be used in sorting the cartridges prior to processing, although it is acknowledged that there also would be utility if the information were accessible to a camera mechanism capable of sensing the discontinuities on the cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,348 discloses a variety of radial projections coaxially disposed around the spool shaft of a film cartridge to indicate information about the film in the cartridge. The projections may be used for indicating the number of frames of film or the kind of film, as well as film sensitivity.
French Pat. No. 1,451,597 discloses a film cartridge having several discrete metallic contact surfaces spaced across its width for electrical sensing by contact fingers. This approach may be further refined by imbedding conductive code markers into electrically insulating material on the side walls of the film cassette, as is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,801.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,557 illustrates a film magazine made of an electrically conductive sheet material substantially covered by an insulating coating layer. Selected sections of the conductive sheet are left uncoated, thereby providing a binary coding system for film speed based on the pattern of conductive or nonconductive sections of the film magazine.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,382 discloses a motion picture film magazine that is provided with a notch indicative of film type. The presence of the notch indicates film for use in artificial light while the lack of a notch indicates film for use in natural light. A flag representing such information is positioned for movement into the optical path of a camera viewfinder so that the camera operator may be assured of using a filter proper for the lighting conditions under which an exposure is to be made.
The need to display information about the film being employed is particularly desirable in view of the large variety of commercially available films. A comprehensive intelligible display of film information provides a means to quickly determine the suitability of the film for the scene being photographed, or a means for checking to determine if the camera is adjusted properly for the film in the camera.